The penultimate round encounter with Anand ended in a draw, thus dashing all hopes of Wesley defending his title (or, at most, tying for first) in this tournament. Moreover, both Giri and Carlsen won their respective matches, placing them a point and a half ahead of Wesley in the current standings.

Wesley, playing the Black pieces, opted for the Open Ruy Lopez. It was evident that he was quite on familiar grounds with his preferred line of play as he moved fast and consumed relatively short time on his clock. In contrast, Anand spent more time in the transition stage from opening to middle game – and indeed at the final move of their encounter, Anand had only about 37 min. left on his clock as opposed to Wesley’s 1 hour and 24 min.

Despite his seeming familiarity with the chosen line of play, Wesley could not make any headway against Anand’s precise judgment of the positional transformations. When the smoke cleared after a series of simplifying exchanges, the final position reduced to that of an opposite-colored bishops ending with equal number of pawns from both sides. Draw was therefore agreed.

More power on the last remaining game. Hope Wesley can give that Chinese gal, Hou Yifan, a l!cking (with pun intended) in the final round.

bro enigma, is there brilliancy when wesley gave up his queen? Or wesley is just experimenting in preparation re candidates matches?

There was no brilliancy and there was no sacrifice. It was a very natural move to save his bishop by checking the king prior to capturing the Q. On the contrrary, it will be stupidity,not brilliancy if rxg3 on move 25.

My boy Magnus Carlsen is again champion of Tata Steel ! Wow, have you seen his endgame prowess, simply the best chess player of this era. Sorry but he again beat your boy So , nothing personal he is just a lot better than So. Then he beat Giri in the playoff, he is simply the best in playoff games where time is short and fast thinking is a must. His brain is better than a computer!!

Head to head -classical gamesIan Nepomniachtchi beat magnus carlsen 4 wins to 0 with 4 draws.and your boy is supposed to be the best player of this era.nothing personal, ian is just a lot better than magnus.

i forgot, wesley beat ian nepo 5 -0 with 1 draw in classical games ,6-0 if we include speed chess

I think Wes could have moved 44... Be5 threatening b2 and h2 then 45... Kg8 to defend his 2 pawns. It's not among the recommended moves but what do you think?

Bro Rizal, sorry but I'm a bit confused about your "Wes could have moved 44... Be5 threatening b2 and h2". Please check again the position after White's 44th move (44. Rc6) in the game versus Carlsen. White has a pawn chain on f4, g3, and h2 squares.

I mean, instead of moving 44...Kg8 at once, which let white gobble his 2 black pawns without a fight, he could have first played 44....Be5 to trade rooks and to protect his 2 remaining pawns. If white would not trade rooks, black could have still defended his 2 pawns with the rook and later on with his bishop.

TheEnigma wrote:

Bro Rizal, I think it would be a mistake to play 44...Be5 at once, as this would allow White to give the check on h8 (45.Rh8+). Black’s king can move to any square, but then White captures the rook on e8 (46.Rxe8) threatening at the same time Black’s bishop on e5. If Black replies with capturing White’s rook on c6 (46...Rxc6), White can simply gobble Black’s bishop on e5 (47.Rxe5).

On the other hand, if after 46.Rxe8 Black takes the rook on e8 with his king (46...Kxe8), White can simply play 47.Rc8+. One line might go like this: 47...Kd7, 48.fxe5 Kxc8 (48...Rg6+ 49.Kf5), 49.exf6.

In both lines above, White wins the black bishop on e5. White’s unhindered pawns on the kingside would then easily decide the outcome.

Wesley’s 44...Kg8 to prevent White’s rook check on h8 was probably the best reply.

rizalincarnate wrote:

Bro. Enigma, why would black play 45... Kg8 if he is being checked? If 45. Rh8+ Kf7 to support black's Rook on e8. If 46. Rxe8 Kxe8; If 46. Rh7+ Kg8. White cannot capture any of black's major pieces without retaliation. What's important is securing black's 2 remaining pawns. The purpose of 44. ...Be5 is to put pressure on white's pawn on b2, and at the same time protecting black's own pawn with the rook on f6 if white decides not to trade rooks and move to c2. Black could have a fighting chance because he is up with 1 bishop against 3 white pawns. Wes' move of 44... Kg8 could not have been the best move because he surrendered his remaining 2 pawns without a fight.

TheEnigma wrote:

Bro Rizal, when I mentioned that “Black’s king can move to any square” after White’s check (45.Rh8+), I was of course referring to any ‘legal move’ by Black. Hence, Black’s king can only move forward to f7, g7, or e7 squares. After any of these legal moves by Black’s king, White can simply take the rook on e8 (46.Rxe8).

As I have shown in one variation above, if the Black king captures the rook on e8 (46...Kxe8, which you also suggested), White can simply give a check with his other rook (47.Rc8+) on the next move. After which, Black’s bishop on e5 would fall, as Black’s king would have to move away first from that other rook check.

For example, if Black moves his king to d7 (47...Kd7, threatening to capture White’s rook on c8), White would still take the black bishop on e5 (48.fxe5) since White in turn would be threatening to capture also the black rook on f6 with his pawn now on e5 (47...Kd7, 48.fxe5 Kxc8, 49.exf6). This means that White would regain his sacrificed material with tremendous advantage, courtesy of his unopposed kingside pawns.

Just try to replay the position with the notes presented above. Everything was given before, nothing has changed.

OK. Granting that 44....Be5 would still be losing, how about 44....Be7? It appears to be drawish. The black bishop would be safe and the 2 black pawns are protected.

_________________In a land of geniuses, an average person is looked down as an id**t; in a land of idiots, a genius is looked down as a fool.

Success is measured not by what you have achieved, but by the degree of satisfaction you derive from it.

_________________ - It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one. - Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story. - Defense wins games. Excellent defense wins championships.

My boy Magnus Carlsen is again champion of Tata Steel ! Wow, have you seen his endgame prowess, simply the best chess player of this era. Sorry but he again beat your boy So , nothing personal he is just a lot better than So. Then he beat Giri in the playoff, he is simply the best in playoff games where time is short and fast thinking is a must. His brain is better than a computer!!

Head to head -classical gamesIan Nepomniachtchi beat magnus carlsen 4 wins to 0 with 4 draws.and your boy is supposed to be the best player of this era.nothing personal, ian is just a lot better than magnus.

i forgot, wesley beat ian nepo 5 -0 with 1 draw in classical games ,6-0 if we include speed chess

Nice one, nothing personal. Wesley is a lot better than Ian, while Ian is a lot better than Magnus...

_________________ - It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one. - Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story. - Defense wins games. Excellent defense wins championships.

if ever Wesley So advances and be a challenger for World Chess Championship against Carlsen, he must hire Ian N to be his mentor only for this match....Ian knows better on how to beat Carlsen in classical games as exemplified on their head to head match...Ian knows how to exploit Carlsen's weakness and convert it to a win...like boxing styles make fight...

My boy Magnus Carlsen is again champion of Tata Steel ! Wow, have you seen his endgame prowess, simply the best chess player of this era. Sorry but he again beat your boy So , nothing personal he is just a lot better than So. Then he beat Giri in the playoff, he is simply the best in playoff games where time is short and fast thinking is a must. His brain is better than a computer!!

Head to head -classical gamesIan Nepomniachtchi beat magnus carlsen 4 wins to 0 with 4 draws.and your boy is supposed to be the best player of this era.nothing personal, ian is just a lot better than magnus.

i forgot, wesley beat ian nepo 5 -0 with 1 draw in classical games ,6-0 if we include speed chess

Nice one, nothing personal. Wesley is a lot better than Ian, while Ian is a lot better than Magnus... [/quote]

A DVD by ChessBase has our boy talking freely about one of his 'Secret Weapons'. Of course, he will probably not use this line in Berlin (Candidates Tournament next month), but only in Rapid and Blitz games. But we, mere kibitzers, can definitely try adding this system to our repertoire.

The Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack with 1.b3 (or 1.Nf3 followed by 2.b3) is a system, rather neglected by theorists, which nevertheless can be a forceful weapon in the hands of an ambitious white player. Even Bobby Fischer tried this opening in various games, sometimes preferring it to his beloved 1.e4, and its greatest advocate was the legendary Danish fighter Bent Larsen. Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today’s world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!

..........

_________________Let my thoughts come to you, when I am gone, like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence. -- Rabindranath Tagore

It’s ironic that it was the same ‘secret weapon’ (1.b3 opening) that Bobby Fischer had employed in astonishing and beating a young Russian GM in the 1970 Buenos Aires tournament. The Russian GM eventually placed second behind Fischer in this strong tournament – his only loss coming from that game against Fischer mentioned above. To the uninformed, this Russian GM was none other than GM Vladimir Tukmakov! (Wesley’s present coach/mentor)

_________________ - It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one. - Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story. - Defense wins games. Excellent defense wins championships.

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